I was at Type-One, upstairs in the office cum showroon and have just finished taking my photos when I saw this young japanese guy standing nearby checking out the place as well. I mistook him to be a Type-One staff and asked him where Ichishima was. "I'm not", he says. It quickly occured to me that he is a Type-One customer and the opportunity quickly opened itself to me. Here is the perfect opportunity to talk to a real-life japanese Honda enthusiast !

Nobu-san is a young guy who for a change speaks very good english (with an american accent somemore !) and drives a gorgeous championship white S2000. He was in Type-One to have coil-overs fitted. They are not Spoon coil-overs though - he bought some other make (I thought it was rude to ask what make since I am with Ichishima so I did not ask) but Nobu-san values the know-how and set-up expertise that Type-One can offer. He understood that the part itself is not the be-all to handling performance, rather the set-up and tuning was the more crucial part. He told me that he was willing to pay a premium for the service to install, set-up and tune the suspension of his S2000. Although he wasn't expecting Type-One to oblige, he was pleasantly surprised that they accepted his request for them to install, set-up and tune

The precision alignment machine used by Type-One to set Nobu-san's suspension.

his suspension (for a fee of course). To emphasize his high regards for Type-One and Spoon, he told me that he actually works for a garage in Tokyo. So naturally he could have the coil-overs installed himself at a very cheap price. But he'll much rather pay the premium so that Type-One/Spoon can install and tune it for him. This of course confirms the success of what Ichishima was trying to achieve with Type-One, i.e. that of a specialist Honda tuner whom enthusiasts would be willing to pay premium for their know-how and skills.

While at this topic, I asked him what he and his perception that the typical japanese Honda enthusiast will have of Spoon and Ichishima. Clear and simple, Nobu-san told me that Spoon and Mugen are considered the best by japanese Honda fans and Ichishima one of the foremost experts in tuning Honda cars. Certainly he himself thinks so and he is quite confident this view is shared by many japanese Honda enthusiasts as well. So if anyone wants the best money can buy, it will have to be either Spoon or Mugen plus set-up and tuning of course. I asked him what he thinks of others, giving him the example of JUN for e.g. who are famous for their Type-1, Type-2, and Type-3 camshafts for B and H-series. Rather surprisingly he seems not to have heard of JUN before. Perhaps it could be because JUN focusses mainly on the B-series and the H22A while he himself owns an AP1 S2000. I took a photo of Nobu-san's S2000 as well as one of him standing besides his machine but at his request that he doesn't want to be shown on the net, I only put the first photo up here.